bootblack

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English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

boot +‎ black

Noun[edit]

bootblack (plural bootblacks)

  1. (dated) A shoeshine boy; a person who shines shoes as an occupation.
    • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 24, in Babbitt, New York, N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace and Company, →OCLC:
      The young negro bootblack hummed "The Camp Meeting Blues" and polished in rhythm to his tune, drawing the shiny shoe-rag so taut at each stroke that it snapped like a banjo string.

Synonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

bootblack (third-person singular simple present bootblacks, present participle bootblacking, simple past and past participle bootblacked)

  1. (transitive) To shine shoes.